One down, 161 to go
What a day at Wrigley! Once the rain stopped, it was actually one of the nicest opening days in years. I didn’t even have my coat on for part of the game. Of course, it helped being at Tim’s pregame party across from the park. We didn’t need to leave for the park until we saw the tarp actually being taken off the field.
Despite the loss, it was an exciting game. Fukudome won’t silence his doubters after just one day, but anyone on the fence had to be swayed by his performance (3 hits, 1 walk, 3 RBIs). For the record, I’ve been a Fukudome fan since his signing. I thought it might take a while for him to get used to our brand of ball, but he came out swinging and just looks like a ballplayer. He’ll be fun to watch.
OK, on to my expected rant about the changes made to Wrigley this season. Surprisingly, the added advertising wasn’t as bad as expected. Most notable is the new permanent signage on each side of the upper deck electronic scoreboards. I’ll be tired of StubHub and OwnACondo (the ads I can see from my seats) by the end of the season and I’m sure the signs will look worse during night games, but my worst fear is that they plan on adding a few signs a season. I hope that’s not the case.
The signage on the cup holders is hardly noticeable. I wonder how much money the Cubs got from Bank of America for such little visibility? The new electronic signage in the concourse is very well done. I don’t mind advertising here, I just want it kept off the field (and preferably out of my view). I’m not too happy that the new CBOE seats, put in just past the Cubs dugout, made it necessary to move the tarp from left field to right field foul territory. I never complained about the advertising on the tarp because I couldn’t see it from my seats. Ugly!
My biggest complaint is the new warning track. I don’t mind that they extended it out 3 extra feet from the wall. What they never mentioned is that the warning track now rings the entire field! It looks awful! It doesn’t blend in well with the bullpens and the angle of the dirt line doesn’t match that of the foul line. The on-deck circles are no longer in the grass and they’ve even done away with the dirt fungo circles (I know they were useless, but they looked classic.)
One more bit of scoop. The house on Waveland with the Budweiser rooftop has been sold. No word yet on what they plan on doing with the building, but I’ll keep my ear to the ground. A good source tells me that the owners got over $8 million in the deal.
Well, it’s just about time for Game 2. More later.